GM settles California consumer protection lawsuit

General Motors will pay $12.75 million to resolve a civil lawsuit alleging that from 2020-24, the carmaker unlawfully sold hundreds of thousands of OnStar subscribers’ personal information and driving data to third party data brokers in violation of California’s privacy, false advertising and unfair competition laws.

The settlement also prohibits GM from selling driving data to any consumer reporting agencies for five years, including to data brokers like LexisNexis and Verisk.

In 2020, GM allegedly began selling this data to LexisNexis and Verisk. The carmaker reportedly earned ~$20 million nationwide from these data sales.

“This settlement makes clear that car companies cannot secretly speed off with your personal data for profit. Consumers have a fundamental privacy right to control their personal information, and this right does not stop at a car door. We appreciate the California Attorney General, the California Privacy Protection Agency and our partner District Attorneys for holding companies who do business in California accountable.” – Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman.